


Out and Through

by sabinelagrande



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Catharsis, Edgeplay, Episode: e085 A Bard's Lament, F/M, Face Slapping, Non-Sexual Kink, Punching, Rough Body Play, Under-negotiated Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: "And sometimes, I could just smack you in the mouth."





	

**Author's Note:**

> This story could be considered edgeplay; one could say that it's RACK, but not necessarily SSC. Also, be careful if you're gonna punch somebody in the stomach. A fanfic is not the place to learn how to do it.

All that, and their contact at the Debt's Respite is not there. They have assurances that he's just out for the night, that he'll be back by dawn. The other Scarbearers only seem to know that they're supposed to detain Vox Machina if they show up, which works out either way, since Vox Machina doesn't want to leave without dropping off the hand.

So, despite the fact that they just woke up, they find themselves getting rooms for the night. Vex is honestly a little glad, because with the exception of Percy, who's just sleep deprived, they're all very hung over. She could keep going, but that doesn't mean she'd mind lying down someplace dark and quiet for a while.

"As a show of good faith, the rooms are on me," Taryon says, pulling coin of his purse and putting it on the bar, which doesn't get anywhere close to placating Vex but also does not bother her. "How many? Two? Three?"

"The baroness and I will be getting our own room," Percy says, throwing out Vex's title in that way that only he can, where it sounds both pointed and like an afterthought at the same time.

_Baroness?_ Taryon mouths at Vax, and Vax gives him a very expressive shrug. Vex doesn't wait for whatever he might have to say about it, doesn't even wait to hear what the plan is, just walks up the stairs, following the barman, who is going to unlock doors for them. She takes the first room he opens, going inside and just standing there for a moment, her eyes shut.

There is a knock at the door, and Percy doesn't wait for a response before he comes in.

"Why did you do that?" Vex demands.

"To see the look on his face," Percy says, undisturbed, taking off his jacket and throwing it over the end of the bed.

"Now that he knows, I'm going to have to deal with him fucking sucking up to me," she says.

"And imagine how good it's going to feel every time you deny him what he wants despite it," he says. "I gave you this title specifically so you could throw it in unpleasant people's faces. Please use it in that spirit."

"It's a crutch," she says.

"It's absolutely a crutch," he says, "one that it's very satisfying to beat people with."

"Darling, you know how dear to me you are," Vex says, annoyed. "There is very little I wouldn't do for you. And sometimes, I could just smack you in the mouth."

Percy steps forward into her space; Vex sometimes forgets how much taller than her he is until he's looming over her. "So do it," he says, voice rough and dangerous. "I am having a terrible fucking few days, so don't threaten me unless you're going to make good on it. If you want to start something with me, let's have it."

"I want this to be perfectly clear," she says, refusing to feel intimidated. "Are you inviting me to have a fistfight with you, or is this something else?"

"This doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be," he says. "But if you want a punching bag, I can take it."

"Can you?" she asks. She already knows he likes it rough, with him on the receiving end; she's not confident that he likes it not rough. This has worked out wonderfully for Vex so far, given her own taste for it, but this is something else, something more, something she's skirted the edge of with other partners but not dared to venture into.

"Anything you can throw at me," he says, and he says it with such conviction that Vex wonders if she should believe him. She's not strong, but she's strong enough to fuck him up, especially if he doesn't fight back. "If it goes too far, well, that's why you have healing spells."

"That is definitely not why I have healing spells," Vex says.

"Are you going to come at me, or do you want to stand here talking?" Percy challenges.

She puts a hand on his cheek, just looking at him for a moment; there is so much more talking they need to do, but she thinks right now she's just going to have to jump. "Pick a word," she says.

"Pepperbox," he says, quickly enough that she knows he picked it out long before she asked.

Before she can think about it anymore, she slaps him hard with her other hand. It keeps his head from snapping to the side, but she knows it still hurts; that's why she does it again. She switches sides, and this time she leaves a pink mark on his cheek. Something about that is so satisfying, seeing her anger manifested on his skin.

"If that's everything, you're wasting my time," Percy says; she knows he's just goading her, but she falls for it anyway. "Do it if you're going to do it."

Vex grabs him by the throat, not squeezing, but digging in with her fingernails. "You fucking talk too much," she says. "I'd be very careful if I were you."

He gives her that aristocratic fuck you look that he's so very good at, and Vex can feel genuine anger running through her. Still, she has enough presence of mind to make it obvious it when she goes to punch him in the stomach, giving him time to react. It would probably only be enough to knock the wind out of him, but he tightens his abs, absorbing the blow. It's still darkly pleasing, so she does it again and again, feeling the solid jolt of her fist against muscle.

"You've got more," he says, when she steps back. "Or is that as hard as you can fight? Really, I expected better."

"You're starting to sound like a boxing instructor," she says. She shoves him hard, and he's not expecting it, almost goes sprawling on the floor. "You really should focus on _shutting the fuck up_."

"I don't think you really want to get away with it," he says. This time she doesn't catch him off-guard when she shoves him, but she does send him back until he collides with the wall, his back smacking hard against it. "I think you need encouragement."

She puts her hands on his waist and spins him, pushing him face-first against the wall. She grabs him by the hair, pulling so hard that his eyes water, dragging him down to her level. "I think you don't know the first fucking thing about what I need," Vex says into his ear, though she knows that's not true. He gasps when she bites his ear, up on the shell where she knows the pain will stick. "You just want to taunt me so I'll hurt you more."

"Do you really think I'm that transparent?" Percy says.

Vex grabs both his hands, slapping them onto the wall on either side of his head. "Yes," she says. She hits him as hard as she can on the back, up around his shoulder blade, and the noise Percy makes is not one of pain. She keeps doing it, careful to avoid his spine and anything vital. He lets his head hang, just taking it, and she keeps going, her fists smacking into him over and over.

This was probably supposed to get her out of her head, but she can't stop thinking, can't stop seeing each blow as something that jabs into her, a thorn she can't pull out. This is for dying again. This is for Percy dying again. This is for Raishan. This is for Thordak. This is for the look on Percy's face when he's reminded his family is never coming back. This is for Scanlan. This is for Scanlan dying. This is for Scanlan walking away. This is for Kaylie enabling him. This is for Taryon's fucking condescension. This is for her own lust for coin, that made her not just kick him in the balls. This is for the idea that anyone or anything could fill the hole that Scanlan left. This is for the shitty world they live in, and how good it could be, and how it's never going to be anywhere close without her working herself half to death, which is so much, too much, more than will ever be fair-

Vex doesn't realize she's crying until Percy turns around, taking her hands before she can swing again. He pulls her to him, holding her tight, and she sobs, so exhausted, the fight gone out of her entirely. Percy strokes her back, murmuring little reassurances as she cries and cries. She does it so long that her head starts to hurt, but Percy doesn't let her go, just lets her get it out. It's an age before the tears dry up; she just stands there, breathing heavily, until Percy walks her over to the bed. He sits her down and takes off her boots, encouraging her to lie down before climbing in next to her and putting his arms around her.

It's a long time before she can process, but she realizes that somehow, she feels better. It feels like so much has been lifted off of her, the worst of it pouring out like a flood, leaving her whole in its wake.

It takes her a moment before she remembers that she's probably supposed to be attending to Percy. She turns towards him, laying a hand on his chest. "How are you, love?"

"I'm doing just fine," he says, sighing, and he sounds content. "How are you?"

"Better," she says, though she still has a crying headache on top of her hangover. "Much better, in fact."

"That's all I want," Percy says, and she can't help but kiss him.

A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door; Percy rises to answer it, unlocking the door and opening it. Vax is standing there looking keenly at the two of them.

"I heard fighting and crying, so you should feel very lucky I didn't pick the lock and come in," Vax says, without preamble.

"We're fine," Vex says, sitting up. 

Vax sizes the two of them up; Vex isn't sure what he sees, but it seems to be enough to allay his fears. "We're meeting downstairs to talk things through," he says.

"What's there to be said?" Vex says.

"I think we're mostly going to drink and bitch," Vax says.

"That, I think I could handle," Percy says. "Give us a moment?"

Vax looks between the two of them. "Sure," he says, before stepping back and closing the door.

Vex reaches for her boots, putting them back on before she stands up. "For the record, I'm still annoyed," she says, though she softens it by walking over and kissing him.

"I know," Percy says. "Next time, I'll let you antagonize the new money at your own pace."

"He just has so much of it," Vex says. "I'm going to bleed him dry."

"I expect nothing less," he says. He puts out an elbow. "Care to walk with me?"

She puts her arm through his. "Lead on, Lord de Rolo," she says, and Percy leads her out of the room and back down the stairs, back to all the demands that press on her from all sides.

But maybe she's just a little bit readier to face them.


End file.
